AMHERST, NY – The Manhattan Jaspers' Men's Volleyball program (3-9, 1-0 NEC) rolled against the Wildcats of Daemen University (6-8, 0-1 NEC) in four sets (25-27, 25-20, 25-21, 25-19) inside Lumsden Gymnasium on Friday evening.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Opening its first-ever conference match in Western New York was not as easy as it seemed, with the reigning NEC champion Wildcats opening the match with four straight points.
- The Jaspers would fall into a seven-point hole before Kasen Owens and Max Larcheid powered the Green and White back to a four-point deficit.
- Manhattan logged eight of the next nine points to leapfrog in front of Daemen with a trio of Owens kills and take the lead by two, 23-21.
- The opposition eventually responded with four of the next five to put the Jaspers on edge with one set point, before Larcheid tied the match at 25.
- In the second set, the Green and White bounced back after opening the set trading points with Daemen, and the stanza tied at six points each. The Jaspers capitalized on the Wildcat miscues.
- Down the stretch of the second set, the Jaspers, again, took advantage of more errors provided by the opposition, with Blonski setting up Owens for the back-to-back point to knot the match at one set apiece.
- After falling behind to open the third set, Manhattan put together four straight points before trading points through the midway mark.
- Tied at 13, the Jaspers found their rhythm with Kai Patchell and Nowak combining for four of the next five points to extend their lead to three points.
- Standing tall was Kai Patchell to record a booming block for the 21st point of the set. To close out the set were Jovan Marjanovic and Owens, with perfect set-ups from Blonski to advance to the fourth ahead.
- The Jaspers opened the fourth set with five consecutive points, before extending their lead to as much as seven off a kill from Wojtek Nowak.
- Continuing its dominance through the fourth set was a combination of assistance from Patchell and Drew Blonski, who brought the lead to double-digits.
- Despite a last-ditch effort from the Wildcats, the Jaspers closed out the fourth set with Nowak putting the final touches on the match for its first conference win in program history.
STATS AND NOTES
- Kasen Owens paced the Green and White with 15 kills on 39 attempts, with a .282 hitting percentage. Owens also added one set assist, a service ace, and three digs for 16 points on the evening.
- Kai Patchell continued his dominant stretch with another 12 kills in 30 attempts, while blocking one, and adding 11 digs for his first career double-double and totaling 13 points.
- Wojtek Nowak logged seven kills on 24 attempts, with four set assists, three service aces, one block assist, and 11 digs to total 10.5 points.
- Drew Blonski provided 40 set assists, with three kills on seven attempts, one solo block, and four digs for four points.
- Jovan Marjanovic sported a whopping .727 hitting percentage, claiming eight terminations on 11 attempts, with one set assist, one solo block, and three digs for nine points.
- The Jaspers logged 49 kills, compared to Daemen's 45, while providing 47 assists, opposed to 44, and 47-43 in terms of digs.
QUOTES FROM THE JASPERS:
Head Coach Chris Schortgen: "Tonight's win against the defending conference champs was a great way for our team to begin conference play. The boys played together, and we played our brand of volleyball for the entire match. Proud of the progress we've made so far, but lots of season ahead of us."
NEXT UP:
The Jaspers continue conference play against the Wildcats of Daemen University on Saturday, February 27 28, for a 2 p.m. opening serve, inside Lumsden Gymnasium. The contest can be viewed for free on NEC Front Row.
Follow Manhattan Men's Volleyball on X and Instagram (@ManhattanMVBall).
